Ward 2 is the odd one, with Democrat Kathy Griswold and independent Jane Lumm as its representatives.

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The Democrat-heavy council now has adopted a rule requiring that Republican-leaning and conservative companies promote progressive and liberal political views.

Or pay a $500 daily fine.

And their move has landed them in court.

The Alliance Defending Freedom on Tuesday announced a lawsuit has been filed against Ann Arbor over its apparent violations of First Amendment freedoms.

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The complaint is "under the guise of stopping discrimination."

"Ann Arbor passed a law that forces Democrats to create advocacy material supporting conservatives and Republicans and Republicans to create advocacy material supporting liberals under the threat of paying fines up to $500 per day," the complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, states.

"This is a constitutional anathema. Citizens should be free to choose for themselves what they say and what they celebrate – not the government," it explains. "This lawsuit challenges Ann Arbor's unjust law for violating the First and Fourteenth Amendments because all Americans, whether conservative or liberal, should have the freedom to advocate for the political views they believe in."

ADF lawyers are representing a political consulting firm, ThinkRight Strategies, and its owners against the city.

It is challenging the law that forces ThinkRight and its proprietors, Grant Strobl and Jacob Chludzinski, "to promote political messages and causes that contradict their conservative and religious principles."

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The law bans Strobl and Chludzinki from posting statements on their website that they promote conservative positions and even "requires the firm to seek work promoting progressive political positions if the firm takes certain steps to contact groups and individuals promoting conservative causes."

Then there's the $500 a day penalty for conservatives who won't promote progressive causes.

"Americans should be free to advocate for the political ideals they cherish," said ADF Legal Counsel Samuel Green. "Grant and Jacob created their business to advance their conservative political beliefs. But Ann Arbor's law forces them to use their skills to promote political beliefs they oppose, like abortion and socialism. This coercion is not just un-American – it's unconstitutional.

"While Grant and Jacob will work with anyone when it advances conservative political goals, they cannot use their talents to promote messages or causes that undermine their values."

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The two owners have been promoting their political views since they were children. As students, they worked for various political campaigns, ADF explained. They were part of Young Americans for Freedom, and after starting their own company, ran into the city's constitutional violations, it said.

"The First Amendment protects people's freedom to choose what to say and what to endorse, and Americans don't have to wait to be punished to protect this freedom," said ADF Senior Counsel Jonathan Scruggs, director of the ADF Center for Conscience Initiatives. "That's why we are representing Grant and Jacob in this challenge to an unjust and unconstitutional law.

"We can all agree that a pacifist painter shouldn't be forced to paint a pro-war mural, and a Democratic speechwriter shouldn't be forced to write speeches for President Trump. But Ann Arbor's law requires these absurd results."

Scruggs pointed out such forced speech was struck down in a recent Supreme Court case, NIFLA v. Becerra.

ADF also asked for a preliminary order to halt the city's demands while the lawsuit is addressed.